Conference on Innovation and Communications Law 2017 – Szeged

The next CICL conference will be organized by the University of Szeged. For the call of papers please read this post further.

Call for papers

The Ninth Annual Conference on Innovation and Communications Law (CICL) will be held in Szeged, Hungary on 29 and 30 May, 2017.

The Faculty of Law at the University of Szeged hosts this year’s conference in downtown Szeged. CICL – a joint venture involving the University of Turku Faculty of Law (Finland), UEF Law School (Finland), the University of Louisville Law School (USA), Michigan State University College of Law (USA), Texas A&M University School of Law (USA) and IPR University Center – explores legal issues involving intellectual property law, communications law, and issues related to the intersection of the two.

Innovation, Communication and IP in a Versatile Age: Need for Balance or Rebalance?

Intellectual property law has faced countless challenges since the emergence of digital technologies and information society. Rightholders, international intermediaries, social media and end-users have all developed new business models that hypnotize us with the possibility of unlimited and immediate access to, sharing as well as creation of content. Linking, streaming and smart technologies as well as technological and legal reactions to them (e.g. geo-blocking, ancillary rights of news publishers, right to be forgotten etc.) globally test the boundaries of a predictable IP regime. Foreseeing the future of supply and demand of content is hard, if not impossible. Notwithstanding law should be ready to manage such challenges. Is the current legal framework ready to meet that demand? Do the doctrines and concepts (e.g. making available to the public, L&Es), as well as methods of law enforcement (safe harbors, injunctions, statutory damages etc.) fit the digital age? Has the formerly envisioned balance of IP rights and social interests been overturned? Is overprotection or under-protection the case today? Information and communications technologies are wide spread, and fundamental rights are also well-publicized. Is the importance of IP protection similarly well-perceived and known? Should IP literacy be strengthened in order to strike a balance of exclusive rights and L&Es? How shall people be educated for supporting the creative minds behind protectable subject matter? Whose task is it to teach that?